Self-driving snow blower

Abstract

To provide a self-driving snow blower that solves a problem in which operation machines that remove snow over a wide range by human operation and small snow blowers operated by human while walking over a relatively small range have been provided conventionally, but currently, unmanned snow blowers that remove snow automatically are not provided to the general public.SOLUTION: A snow blower automatically performs snow removal operation from a designated range without requiring any operating skills, and throws the removed snow in a designated location, and thus, it solves closing of a passage or damage to plants and trees, reduces the amount of transportation operation required to transport the removed snow to a snow dump location, and frees workers from heavy labor of the snow removal operation that has been performed by hand previously.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatically operated snow removal machine that automatically performs snow removal work. [Background technology]

[0002] Most snow removal machines available to the public up until now have been rotary snowplows and tire shovels operated by humans to remove snow over large areas such as roads and parking lots, but in recent years, small snow removal machines that are operated by a person while walking and designed to remove snow over relatively small areas have begun to become popular. However, snow removal over small areas such as around private homes is usually done manually using a shovel or a tool called a snow dump. There are currently no snow removal machines available to the public that can perform these tasks automatically without human assistance. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] No documents with the same or similar purpose have been listed in the past literature on the patent information platform. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Snow removal is essential in areas with a certain amount of snowfall, but snow removal, especially in areas with heavy snowfall, is extremely hard work for the workers. Snow removal around the house is typically performed by elderly people and women who spend more time indoors, making snow removal extremely physically demanding for these people. Furthermore, the small snow removal machines currently available require some skill to operate, and some of the rotating parts are somewhat exposed, making them dangerous for elderly people and women. Furthermore, they require the removal of snow to be transported to a snow dumping area, and because the dumping area is small and physically infeasible, the removal snow must be piled on top of plants or on both sides of a walkway, waiting for the snow to melt. The present invention was made to eliminate these drawbacks. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a snow blower that is equipped with a self-propelled device and a memory device that can constantly check the current location of the moving snow blower without relying on human operation, and that moves automatically, unmanned, clearing snow along a pre-set route according to instructions from the control device based on stored data, and then dumps the cleared snow in a designated area at a designated location.

[0006] In order to automate snow removal work, it is necessary for the storage device to grasp the preset area and route to be removed and to use the control means to perform the work safely and reliably, but the device structure must be simple and inexpensive. The present invention solves these problems and is characterized by the fact that it automatically removes snow in a specified area without human assistance. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] This system not only relieves workers from the heavy labor and time required for manual snow removal, as well as the dangers associated with operating a snow removal machine, but also eliminates the risk of workers slipping or falling, which often occurs when removing snow manually and having to work in an unstable position on the snow.

[0008] If the snow thrower is given the ability to throw snow accurately at a predetermined snow throwing point or snow throwing range higher than a weak woman or elderly person, instead of throwing snow randomly anywhere, it is possible to avoid obstacles such as blocking of paths and damage to plants that may occur due to snow throwing.

[0009] Furthermore, this snow blower is designed to allow the operator to manually remove snow outside the designated snow removal range by temporarily disabling the multiple pre-set snow removal ranges and routes. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view of a snow blower showing an example of a snow blower of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view seen from the direction of the arrow AA in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a front view seen from the left side of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a rear view seen from the right side of FIG. [Figure 5] 4 is an enlarged view showing in detail the structure of the rotating part of the chute in part a of FIG. 3. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the arrow BB in FIG. 3. [Figure 7] This is an example plan view showing the outline of the property of a house from which snow is to be removed, the layout of buildings within the property, and the snow removal area. [Figure 8] This is an example plan view showing the outline of the property of a house from which snow is to be removed, the path that a snowplow will travel within the snow removal area, and the snow throwing position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] This invention relates to a snow blower that can remove snow without human intervention by driving the wheels or caterpillars of a rotary snow blower 1 currently available to the public, moving the snow blower along a set route to remove snow from a desired snow removal area, thereby relieving snow removal workers from heavy work.The snow blower has a simple structure, is less prone to malfunction, is lightweight, and is inexpensive, and can perform unmanned snow removal work.

[0012] The snow blower main body 1 is instructed to wait in its original position when not in normal snow removal work. To start work, a human can press the work start button to start operation, or a sensor can be installed to detect snow accumulation or snowfall, and the snow blower can be set to start work automatically when this sensor detects snow accumulation or snowfall.

[0013] Furthermore, this invention has the function of piling up removed snow only in pre-designated locations, and is not intended to remove large amounts of accumulated snow in a short period of time.Since it is small, it has difficulty removing deep snow compared to large snow removal machines.However, this invention aims to compensate for this drawback by starting operation when the snow accumulation is relatively shallow and the snow removal machine itself can still remove it, and by operating for a long period of time with a reduced amount of snow removed per hour.

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. The storage device mounted on the snow blower 1 stores the original position (the place where power is supplied), the travel route of the area to be cleared, and the landing point and area of ​​the thrown snow, and when the remaining charge in the battery 17 becomes low while traveling and power supply becomes necessary, the snow blower stops operation, returns to the original position, connects to the power supply device 16, charges the battery 17, and after charging is complete returns to the position where the operation was stopped and continues snow removal work.

[0015] The snowplow body 1 has four wheels 7 arranged in the same way as a typical four-wheeled vehicle, and each wheel is driven by a wheel drive motor 12 that can rotate forward and backward. By individually rotating the four motors 12 forward and backward based on preset data, the snowplow can move forward and backward freely, and can move to a specified route and location as required by receiving commands from the control device. While this diagram shows a wheeled system as the means of transportation, replacing these with caterpillar tracks will achieve a similar purpose, so the means of transportation does not necessarily have to be wheeled. If caterpillar tracks are used, only two drive motors are required.

[0016] Furthermore, while the snowplow's snow removal area is generally free of any obstructing objects within its range, it is possible that an animal, person, or vehicle may suddenly enter the area and collide with the snowplow. To accommodate this, the snowplow is programmed with a travel route that avoids existing buildings and shrubs, but is also equipped with sensors that detect intruders in all directions in case of unexpected intrusions, and is controlled to stop or retreat the snowplow 1 if an unintended intrusion occurs. However, this technology is already available to the public in places like restaurants, such as in the form of robots that deliver ordered items to customers' seats, so a detailed explanation will not be provided here.

[0017] Furthermore, a lower chute 2 and an upper chute 3 are attached to the top of the snow blower body 1, and by rotating and tilting these, the snow can be thrown precisely to a specified location. That is, the parabola of the snow discharged from the upper chute 3 is stored in advance, and the memory device is set to indicate the direction of the lower chute 2 and the elevation angle of the upper chute 3 so that the snow discharged from the snow blower 1 at each position will travel along the ideal parabola and reach the snow throwing location.

[0018] In this case, when the control device instructs the chute rotation motor 11 attached to the snow blower body 1 to rotate forward or backward, the pinion gear 14 attached to its output shaft rotates. The pinion gear 14 meshes with the large gear 13 attached to the lower chute 2, so by rotating the pinion gear, the lower chute 2 rotates, and the snow released from the upper chute 3 is controlled to head toward the snow disposal area 25 or the snow disposal point 26. Furthermore, by extending or retracting the cylinder 15, the elevation angle of the upper chute 3 is controlled, allowing the snow to be accurately thrown to the pre-stored location.

[0019] In this case, the rotation motor 11 and cylinder 15 must be of a type that can accurately determine their own origin and the number of rotations and extension distance from that point. Also, if the cylinder 15 is replaced with a motor with a reducer that can accurately determine its own origin and rotation angle, it can serve the same purpose.

[0020] Furthermore, snow blower 1 uses electrically powered motors and sensors in various places as a power source, so some kind of power supply is required. While Figure 1 shows it equipped with a battery 17, it can perform the same function by receiving power from a household power source using an electrical cord. This power supply method is already commonly available in automatic household vacuum cleaners and the like.

[0021] Figure 7 is an example plan view showing the locations where snow is thrown when snow blower 1 is working in a certain snow removal area. For example, the computer has been programmed in advance to store the snow in a section of range 23 that snow blower 1 is trying to remove, with snow throwing point 26 as a single point and to throw snow in a section of range 24 that snow blower 1 is trying to remove, within a section of snow throwing range 25, and snow blower 1 moves around as needed in accordance with the instructions, repeatedly throwing snow in the specified locations.

[0022] Figure 8 shows an example of snowplow 1 equipped with a receiving device for checking its current position and current location, and shows the installation positions for receiving radio waves emitted by transmitters 1 and 2 to confirm its own position. It is desirable to install more transmitters in case either transmitter 1 or 2 malfunctions, or if its position is shifted due to an earthquake or strong wind, or to increase the positioning accuracy of snowplow 1. Furthermore, if snowplow 1 is equipped with a device that has both transmitting and receiving functions, transmitters 1 and 2 can be replaced with radio wave reflectors and still be able to confirm its own position.

[0023] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the travel route of the snow blower 1. The snow blower 1 travels along this route while removing snow, and throws the snow at predetermined locations 25 and 26 as appropriate.

[0024] Furthermore, this snow blower 1 can temporarily cancel the memory of the snow removal area, its route, and snow throwing point, allowing the user to operate the handle 4 to remove snow outside the set area.

[0025] In FIG. 4, gears are used as the rotation transmission system for the lower chute 2, but the same effect can be achieved by using a transmission system such as a chain or belt, without being limited to the system shown in this figure.

[0026] Furthermore, whereas conventional rotary snow blowers have an auger 8 and impeller 9 attached to the rotary shaft, this invention shows the rotary shaft replaced with a motor pulley 6. By adopting this method, there is no need to install additional transmission parts or mechanisms such as gears or chains to transmit the power rotation of the motor or engine, which is the power to rotate the motor pulley shaft, to the rotary shaft, resulting in a simplified structure and a simple appearance.

[0027] Compared to conventional snow removal machines, this invention can operate unmanned 24 hours a day, and because it only requires a certain amount of snow removal work to be completed within 30 minutes of the owner's commute to work, for example, it is possible to use a snow removal device with lower hourly processing capacity, making it possible to complete snow removal work with a smaller, cheaper, and lighter device than conventional small snow removal machines that are operated by a person walking along the ground.The object of this invention is to provide such a snow removal machine to the public. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 1 Snowblower body 2 Lower chute 3 Upper chute 4 Handle 5 Gear cover 6 Motor pulley 7 Traveling wheel 8 Auger 9 impeller 10 driving motor 11 Chute rotation motor 12 13 Large gear 14 Small gear 15 Cylinder 16 Power supply plug 17 Battery 18 Main building 19 Garage 20 Storage shed 21 Transmitter 1 22 Transmitter 2 23 Area to be cleared 1 24 Area to be cleared 2 25 Snow removal input range 26 Snow removal input point 27 Site outline 28 Snowplow route 29 Ground 30 Power station

Claims

1. A snow removal machine equipped with a self-propelled driving device and snow removal function, which automatically removes snow while moving according to the data stored in the memory device installed in the machine, such as the range and route. [Name of object] Drawing

2. A lower chute 2 and an upper chute 3 are attached to the upper part of the snow discharge outlet of the snow removal machine 1, and by rotating and elevating these two chutes, the thrown snow is precisely piled up in a predetermined place and frozen, and the snow removal work can be performed by the snow removal machine while being manually operated without setting a range or a route.

3. Rotary snow removal devices currently available to the public have impellers and augers attached to a rotary shaft and are driven to remove snow, but this snow removal device replaces the rotary shaft with a motor pulley to which an impeller and auger are attached to remove snow.

4. When trying to remove snow from areas outside the preset snow removal range, the snow removal machine can be operated manually without setting a range or route by temporarily canceling or freezing the preset snow removal range and snow removal route.

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